Nitro Goes Solo
by markedblokey
Summary: Chapter 11 up, hope you all like it, please please read and review, all comments are welcome, it's my first story on FanFic so any comments would be good! and for once, not really a cliffhanger at the end but don't worry, there will be more to come
1. The Idea

Johnny Nitro and Melina paced up and down the corridor outside Vince McMahon's office. Raw was about to go on air and Vince had called them in for a meeting. To say they we both nervous was an understatement, the last time Vince had 'called' them in for an important meeting was to say he would be sending them to Raw and split up MNM.

"Here goes nothing" said Nitro to Melina, and knocked tentatively on Mr McMahon's door.

"Come in" came a voice from inside. Nitro cautiously opened the door and both he and Melina entered the room, already there, looking serious were Vince, Shane and Jim Ross.

"Do sit down" said Vince calmly, so Nitro and Melina took a seat. "Right, there's nothing to be nervous about" Vince said, sensing the uneasiness of them both, "we've decided to give you a bit of a push" he directed at Nitro, "you held the Intercontinental Title for a while and have been very successful in the tag team division and we see you becoming a main eventer in the near future"

Nitro looked up, slightly surprised, he'd been hoping this would be coming for a long while, ever since he lost the IC Title to Jeff Hardy back in November.

"Thank you sir", Nitro responded

"You've earned it" Vince replied, "however, we have a good number of heels at the top so we have decided to turn you face". Nitro looked worried, he'd never been a face before, a fan favourite – could he pull it off? "What we're going to do is, tonight Jeff Hardy will put his money in the bank ladder match position on the line in a fatal four way match between the two of you, plus Kenny Dykstra and Carlito, just to add a special twist, which will help with your face turn, Melina will be the special guest referee." Vince glanced at Melina, then turned his attention back to Nitro. "Jeff will win by pinning you and you will blame Melina, at which point Joey Mercury will come to Melina's defence much like last year when you lost the tag titles, only Mercury will attack you. Just to make sure the fans go your way, Matt Hardy will run in and attack Joey, does that sound feasible to you?"

Nitro thought, but only for a second, he really enjoyed playing the heel but playing face in the WWE would be a new experience and he'd always been up for new ideas, also it was never a good idea to argue with Vince, if you hit a nerve with him you risked being buried.

"That sounds fine" Nitro said confidently

"Melina?" Vince asked

"It sounds fine" Melina said quickly, deep down she didn't like the idea, but Vince was the boss and so what he said generally went.

"Excellent, so it's settled" Vince replied, and with that Nitro and Melina were dismissed, Jim Ross got ready to be introduced on Raw and Vince and Shane continued discussing plans.

Nitro casually walked along the corridor with Melina when she blurted out

"I hate this idea, I think I'm about to lose the Women's Title and now I have my tag team taken away from me"

"It'll be fine, you'll be fine, I mean you're top of the Women's division and have a feud with Ashley coming up, it must mean Vince is pleased with you too, he obviously thinks you can make it on your own now" Nitro said, trying to calm Melina down. At that point Joey Mercury and Matt Hardy appeared.

"Heard the news then" Joey asked

"Yes, sounds interesting" Nitro said, and with that the four of them went their separate ways until later that night when they would be in the ring.


	2. The Match

"Introducing, from Los Angeles, California weighing in at 219 pounds, Johnny Nitro." Lillian Garcia announced as Nitro's music hit and he walked down the ramp to the ring. Melina had already been introduced as the special guest referee and Jeff Hardy was the first to be announced as he was defending his money in the bank match position. Nitro walked down the ramp to the usual chorus of boos and signs of abuse in the crowd. Not that it really bothered him, after all he was a heel and that was his job, to get the crowd to hate him. As he climbed into the ring he exchanged looks with Melina and took his robe off. At that point Kenny Dykstra's music hit and the building erupted in a chorus of boos, Nitro looked slightly surprised at the fan's reaction, he was obviously doing a good job as a heel. "and from Worcester, Massachusetts, weighing in at 234 pounds, Kenny Dykstra!" Lillian announced. Dykstra pranced and smirked all the way to the ring, he really was a cocky young upstart and the heat he got from the crowd was fantastic. Kenny climbed into the ring full of confidence as his music stopped. "and finally, from the Caribbean, accompanied to the ring by 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair, weighing in at 220 pounds, Carlito." As Lillian announced him the building filled with cheers as Carlito and Ric Flair appeared. Ric walked Carlito down the ramp and then at Melina's request returned to the locker room.

All four competitors were in the ring and Melina called for the bell, the match was underway. They had been told to go for about 10 minutes with Jeff pinning Nitro to retain his position in the Money In The Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania. After several high risk moves from Jeff Hardy and brawling between Carlito and Dykstra the match was due to end. Nitro and Hardy were brawling, Carlito threw Dykstra over the top rope onto the floor and took Nitro by surprise delivering his version of the back breaker. Jeff seized the opportunity and as Carlito was going for the cover, Jeff nailed him with a twist of fate and placed him on top of Nitro. One Swanton bomb off the top onto both Nitro and Carlito, kicking Carlito out of the ring he covered Nitro, a very reluctant 3 count from Melina later and Jeff had won the match by pinning Nitro.

At that point the plan came into play, Nitro argued with Melina as planned and Joey Mercury appeared from under the ring and attacked Nitro from behind, he began beating Nitro down with Melina kicking him over and over again. As planned Jeff pulled Mercury off and a planted a twist of fate on him. At that moment Matt Hardy ran down to the ring looking to take on Melina, Matt helped Nitro to his feet as Melina and Mercury retreated from the ring.

Have the Hardy's and Nitro actually formed an alliance and now Nitro is a face who will he face as a main eventer, all these questions were being asked until Edge and Randy Orton appeared on the big screen with a surprise message from Vince McMahon.


	3. Revealing Conversations

Nitro and The Hardy's looked up at the titan tron as Edge and Randy Orton began to make Vince's big announcement.

"Because you three seem to like handicaps, ganging up on Mercury and a delicate female, Mr McMahon has suggested a handicap match right here tonight, Nitro will take on Rated RKO with The Hardy's banned from ringside." Randy Orton stated and with that Edge put in a few comments of his own,

"And just because we've had our problems, don't think that that will help you, everything's sorted out now and once again Rated RKO is on the same page and is still the most dominant tag team the WWE has ever seen." He declared.

"Nitro thought this odd, Vince had never said anything to him about this. Normally the show was sorted before it started, nervously he left the ring and walked to the back in search of Mr McMahon to find out what this was all about.

Nitro knocked on Mr McMahon's door

"Come in" came Mr McMahon's voice from inside

Nitro walked through the door

"Ah, I thought I would be getting a visit from you, sorry, I don't normally do this but I had an idea. As you can gather you have another match tonight against Edge and Orton"

"Yes sir, what's happening with that" Nitro always tried to be polite to Vince, maybe this was part of the reason he was getting a push

"Well, the match will go approximately 10 minutes with you winning via DQ, you will take a chair shot from Edge which will start a feud with Edge in singles competition."

"Will this be a Con-chair-to?" Asked Nitro nervously, he'd never taken one of those before and was slightly worried as to what the answer would be

"Do you think you can manage one" asked Vince, at which point Nitro's first reaction was to blurt out that he wasn't ready. But if he did that, would Vince think he wasn't ready to main event, something he'd been working towards

"I think I can, I'll give it a try sir" said Nitro cautiously, straight away wishing he'd never said it, but bit his tongue, he had to make a good impression for the boss.

"Excellent, so Randy will deliver an RKO and Edge will give you a Con-Chair-To causing the disqualification"

"Ok sir" said Nitro as he left Vince's office.

As Nitro was walking back along what seemed a longer corridor than usual he overheard Edge and Orton talking in their dressing room and he didn't like what he heard.

"How can Vince make him a main eventer so soon, he hasn't even been on Raw a year and he's really only just becoming a singles wrestler"

"I know, it's unbelievable, think about how long it took me to reach the top, it's just not right"

Nitro took those voices to be Orton and Edge respectively, but what he hadn't banked on was a third voice, and more to the point, what was said.

"I feel it's my fault to a point," said the unmistakable voice of Melina, "I was the one that suggested the idea to break MNM up, I was totally bored with Nitro, Mercury has so much more talent and I need to concentrate on the Women's division now. I never meant for Vince to main event him, more to get lost in the shuffle as such"

"Well what's done is done now, I guess we'll just have to rough him up tonight, maybe work a bit of a stiff match" said one of the male voices, Nitro thought it was Edge but couldn't be sure. He started to regret agreeing to the Con-Chair-To and considered going back to Vince and saying he'd changed his mind, but he couldn't, he could not let his push go to waste, he needed to be strong about this. He entered his dressing room, sat down and began to think. At that moment however there was a knock on his door

"Come in" he said, slightly surprised, who could be visiting him? The door opened and Nitro nearly fell off his seat in shock.


	4. Awkward Situations

Nitro could hardly believe what he saw, standing in the doorway was a person from his past, an old flame, they had broken up because she cheated, her name was Danielle Crabtree.

"Liz, what are you doing here?" Nitro managed to ask, stuttering all the way through the question.

"I'm here as a new RAW diva, and my ring name is Danielle" she replied, Nitro looked on, still stunned, how had she landed a deal with the WWE, sure she'd always been interested in wrestling and had dreamed of being a wrestling diva, Sable was her idol.

"But why, why are you here with me?"

"Because I never stopped caring about you, couldn't we give it another go? Just the two of us, no one else this time"

"Listen, I can't think about this now, I have a match later"

"I know, I thought we could talk to Vince and see if I could accompany you to the ring"

"That's not happening" said another voice from behind Danielle. Both she and Nitro looked and standing quite firmly behind her was Smackdown diva Ashley. "Vince wants me to be Nitro's valet for the night, Melina is accompanying RKO and it will add fire to my feud with her if we are both at ringside."

"Well, I guess I'd better leave you two to prepare then hadn't I" Danielle replied, she walked over to Nitro and whispered in his ear "think about it, for me – for us." She kissed him on the cheek which made Nitro wince slightly, she turned and walked out of the dressing room, glaring at Ashley as she did so.

"This just isn't my night" Nitro said to Ashley, "everything's changing. When I arrived I was a heel in an on-off tag team, with Melina, the women's champion at my side, and now I'm a face with my ex girlfriend down the hall bugging me. Not to mention Melina literally bad mouthing me to Edge and Orton."

"Well, I'll take care of Melina, and you know that it's highly likely I'm going to become Women's champion at Wrestlemania"

"That's another thing, Vince wants to push me to main event status and I don't even have a match at Wrestlemania yet." Nitro complained

"I can't help with that one, but tonight is supposed to be about the new Johnny Nitro, speaking of which your match is going to start soon, let's go see Edge and Orton and talk strategy and moves." Suggested Ashley

"Fine, let's go" Nitro said bluntly, with that he got up and walked towards RKO's dressing room.

It was a very long walk down the corridor, and it didn't help Nitro knowing that Danielle was around somewhere, he really didn't want to run into her again. She was in his past, firmly in his past. He had made it clear that when she had cheated on him, he wanted nothing more to do with her. Nitro was a man of moral's and had no time for people who messed him around. He had become quite well respected in the short time he had been with WWE.

He and Ashley knocked on RKO's dressing room door and walked in for a last minute conference about the match. However, it wasn't just RKO in there, but Melina was there too (which didn't shock Nitro), Joey Mercury was also there, which again was not a huge surprise. The surprise element was the presence of the woman he most wanted to avoid, the woman was, of course, Danielle.

Nitro rolled his eyes "what are you doing now" he asked Danielle in a very snappy tone, he wasn't usually snappy, in fact he was quite calm most of the time, but she was getting to him now.

"Relax Casanova, I'm leaving, don't worry" and with that she got up and walked out whispering to Nitro as she passed him "good luck, my prince"

Nitro felt sick, but came in and sat down, trying to put it out of his mind, what was going on, why wasn't he being told anything tonight? Ashley looked round to check she was gone and closed the door.


	5. Second Match Of The Evening

Lillian Garcia stood, smiling in the ring with the microphone in her hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this match is a handicap match and is set for one fall, introducing first, accompanied to the ring by the WWE Women's champion Melina, at a combined weight of 485 pounds, Edge and Randy Orton, Rated RKO."

The three of them strutted down to the ring to a huge chorus of boos, not that they weren't used to that, it was nothing new. They entered the ring and Edge began to taunt the crowd as Orton pulled the ropes apart for Melina to climb into the ring the usual way, not her own special way, which disappointed the crowd at ringside. Rated RKO's music stopped and Lillian spoke again . "And their opponent, accompanied to the ring by Ashley, weighing in at 219 pounds, Johnny Nitro."

For the first time in his WWE career Nitro appeared, Ashley by his side to a crowd that was going wild, Nitro was in awe, never before had he walked down to a WWE ring to cheers, it was a brand new experience. Sure, he realised some, or perhaps the majority of the cheers were for the Playboy cover girl Ashley, but he also knew that the fans were cheering for him, someone who had been a heel for his entire WWE career, what a difference one evening could make. He was also, however rather nervous, he arrived at the arena fully intending on leaving a mid-card player and as a heel with Melina by his side, and now all of a sudden everything was different. Melina seemed to be with RKO, whether that was for the one night he didn't know, it was certainly the impression he had been given in the strategy meeting earlier, to spice things up between her and Ashley for their match at Wrestlemania. However, as much as he tried to put it out of his mind, the fact Danielle was about somewhere unsettled him. He wasn't sure why she was here, where she was, whether it was Vince's idea, or had Melina really double crossed him completely? He thought back to the conversation he'd heard between Edge, Orton and Melina earlier on and wondered what was going on. Suddenly he felt very uneasy, he had found being cheered a great new experience but as he climbed into the ring, with Rated RKO staring him down, he suddenly felt very small. This was a huge match for him, but he couldn't let his worries affect the match. He had something to prove, he had to prove he could wrestle as a main eventer, even if Melina's original plan was not for him to be one.

The bell rang and the match started, first in from Rated RKO was Edge, he and Nitro locked up and Edge began to get the upper hand pushing him back into a corner. The referee called for the break, Edge backed off slightly but didn't give Nitro a clean break, instead he gave Nitro a thunderous punch to the mid-section

"What the hell?" Nitro tried to blurt out, but was in too much shock to really say anything. He remembered that Edge and Orton had said they were going to 'rough him up' but they were both much bigger than Nitro which didn't help. Edge grabbed Nitro's arm and nearly took his head off with a forceful short clothesline, one that JBL would have been proud of. As Nitro fell to the floor he rolled over to the Edge of the ring where Melina slapped him in the face. This brought Ashley round and as she ran at Melina, Melina backed off.

The match carried on with both Edge and Orton being very aggressive towards Nitro, he began to get worried for his safety, thinking of the con-chair-to he was supposed to get at the end of the match. He realised he'd have to fight harder back and as Orton, who was at that point in the ring, scouted for an RKO, Nitro low blowed him, which signalled a warning from the referee. Nitro forced him into a corner, climbed onto the second rope and began hammering down on Orton's head. From the other side of the ring Edge looked slightly surprised. After Nitro had delivered his final head shot on Orton he suddenly noticed a figure in the crowd walking towards the ring. It was Danielle, Nitro stared at her as she continued to approach the ring. He tried to block it out, he was in a wrestling match and couldn't get distracted. The thing that was bothering him most was that she wasn't supposed to interfere, Mercury was after the bell had rung, but not her. Was this one of Vince's ideas and he'd forgotten to tell Nitro, or was Danielle doing this by herself.

Nitro, determined to block it from his mind began to turn round and concentrate on the match, however the damage had been done, while all that was going on, Orton had made the tag and Edge launched in with a spear, knocking Nitro down. To finish it off, Edge kicked him out of the ring where Orton held him up in front of Melina who gave Nitro a low blow by kicking him hard. They took Nitro and put him back into the ring, and grabbed two chairs. Nitro knew it was time, he lay still, praying that the move wouldn't go wrong. They'd talked about how con-chair-to's were done earlier and how to avoid getting injured, but he was new to this and they obviously were out for blood tonight, he didn't know why, but he did know he was nervous. To make matters worse, as he lay there, waiting, Joey Mercury came to ringside to look on with Melina as Edge and Orton slowly entered the ring with chairs in hand. They set him up for the con-chair- to

"Please be careful, please be careful" Nitro whispered to himself, he was scared, and it obviously showed as Edge looked at him and whispered back,

"Nothing to worry about, I've done loads of these before, I know what I'm doing"

Nitro wasn't sure whether to trust him, but he'd wrestled a good match and, although he'd love to back out of this now, he also knew he couldn't. Edge placed a chair under Nitro's head, lifted the other one up high and drove it down onto Nitro's face.

With that the referee called for the bell, Rated RKO had been disqualified.

"How does it feel, Johnny, how does it feel to have a face like mine now" yelled Mercury, who still had his face covered with the protective mask. Nitro couldn't move, all he could think about was how much pain was going through his body right now, he didn't think anything was broken, so Edge had probably done the right thing, but then he'd never taken a chair shot like that before. A stretcher was brought to the ring and Nitro was wheeled off, with Ashley walking beside him as he was taken out to the back. Meanwhile in the ring, Rated RKO's music was playing and Edge, Orton, Mercury and Melina all stood in the ring arms raised.

Just as Nitro got backstage and got off the stretcher, Danielle appeared

"I'm sorry" she whispered, and with that turned and walked away again.

"What do you mean, you're sorry" Nitro shouted back, but Danielle ignored him, however Ashley also wanted to get to the bottom of this and set off in a sprint after her to find out exactly what was going on.


	6. On Smackdown

Nitro sat down in his dressing room, still applying the icepack to his face. He was grateful that the Con-chair-to went to plan and that Edge was careful, despite the fact the match was brutal and Rated RKO definitely wanted to show him what main-eventing was. Ashley knocked on the door and came in.

"Sorry, didn't catch her in time" she said to Nitro. She was, of course talking about the mysterious Danielle, the girl from Nitro's past.

"Don't worry about it, the night's over and I'm going back to the hotel, I'm exhausted" Nitro said, wearily.

"Ok, well if you need anything you have my number"

"Thanks, will keep that in mind" Nitro said as Ashley left and with that he packed his things up and left for his hotel.

The next day Nitro awoke to the phone ringing, he rolled over and answered it in a tired groggy voice.

"Hello"

"Hello, Johnny it's Vince"

"Oh, hello sir, what can I do for you" Nitro said, all of a sudden, knowing he needed to be awake for this phone call

"Well, I need you to get down for the SmackDown tapings tonight, Mercury's got a match and I want you involved"

"Yes, of course, I'll be there" Nitro assured Mr McMahon

"Thank you, when you arrive I want you and Joey to come to my office"

"Right, Ok, I'll see you then"

"Thank you, goodbye" Vince said and rung off

More thoughts were going through Nitro's head, the chair shot from the night before still stung slightly and he hadn't slept well because of it and now he was needed on SmackDown. Was this for a match or just a run in, or just to be there? All these questions were being spun around in his head, confused he got out of bed and got up.

He pulled up outside the arena where SmackDown was being taped and went to find Mercury. He walked up to his dressing room and knocked on it and came in. There in front of him was not only Mercury but Danielle was talking and laughing about with him.

"What's going on?" Nitro asked

"Oh nothing, we're just catching up" Mercury said casually

"Well we need to talk business, did Vince contact you" Nitro replied flatly

"Yes he did, all in good time" Mercury replied, just as casually. By this point Nitro was getting very annoyed as he wanted to find out what was happening tonight

"For goodness sake Joey, pull yourself together, we need to see Vince, and you" he turned his head and glared at Danielle "get out and leave me alone, I don't know what you're doing here, nor do I care, now leave, we have business to attend to"

"Fine, fine, I'm going" Danielle said, but once again as she walked past Nitro on the way out, she whispered "but I am so sorry" and with that she left the room, leaving Nitro puzzled and Mercury glaring at him.

"You never relax these days do you, she was only talking, catching up" Mercury shot at Nitro

"Well, that's great but you know my history with her isn't exactly all rosy, what's she doing here anyway?"

"I don't know, she just came in and said she was visiting, anyway you're right, we need to speak to Vince, let's go"

They both left the dressing room and knocked on Vince McMahon's door.

"Come in" said Vince from inside and both men walked into the room "do sit down" Vince said politely and they all took a seat. "Right, this Sunday at Wrestlemania I want you two in a match one on one where the loser leaves WWE, and Nitro, you are to win" Nitro looked stunned

"Sorry, does this mean Joey is leaving the company" Nitro asked looking over at Mercury

"I am not able to discuss reasons with other people on the roster, Joey is leaving and he knows, you are to pin him at Wrestlemania, that is all you need to know" Vince said firmly, in a tone that Nitro knew meant don't bother enquiring. "As for tonight however, you are both to be in a tag team match, Johnny you will team with Chris Benoit and Joey will team with MVP. The end result will be Johnny pinning Joey, which will fuel the match for Sunday. Joey, you will claim that Johnny cannot beat you one on one and if he does you will leave the company, do you understand?"

"Yes sir" Mercury said and with that they were dismissed.

Once outside Nitro turned to Mercury and said.

"Ok, what's going on, why are you leaving?"

"I'm not really able to talk about it but I didn't pass a wellness test, don't ask anything else" Mercury replied and walked off quickly to his dressing room.

Nitro stood still, still trying to take in what was going on, he'd faced Chris Benoit in a six man tag before, back at No Way Out, but never teamed with him, and Joey leaving? That would be weird. Just then, in the distance he saw Danielle, wondering what she was doing Nitro hid and to his amazement she walked down the corridor to Nitro's locker room where she posted a note through the door, kissing her hand and touching the door she left and carried on walking. Nitro quickly went into his locker room and read the note, after reading it he sat down, more confused than before. He wasn't sure but he knew this Sunday at Mania could be the end of his career if he wasn't careful. He pondered over the note and re-read it to himself? What did it mean and what should he do about it? He wondered whether to go to Vince, but decided against it. For the third time he read the note, this time aloud to see if it would make any sense.


	7. Shocking Discoveries

"Johnny, Johnny, JOHNNY" Chris Benoit yelled at Nitro in his locker room

"What, huh, what, sorry I was miles away" Nitro said, slightly stunned

"I guessed, come on, it's time for the match" Benoit replied.

Nitro listened and sure enough he could hear MVP's, music being played. He pulled himself together and walked out to the entrance way, he must have been pondering on the note for ages, in a world of his own. He walked to the entrance and waited as Chris Benoit made his way down to the ring, he was nervous and worried but couldn't let that have an effect on the match, he had a job to do and he was going to do it. Tony Chimmel's voice began again

"And his partner, from Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 219 pounds, Johnny Nitro"

Nitro made his way to the ring with the crowd on his side, this time there was no Ashley so the crowd were solely cheering for him, it was a strange feeling, but a good one. He climbed into the ring and saw Mercury, Melina and MVP talking strategy outside, Chris Benoit milking the crowd from the second rope in one of the corners and Tony Chimmel in the middle of the ring with microphone in hand. Nitro's music stopped but just as he thought the match was going to get underway, another piece of music started and Tony Chimmel made an announcement

"And now introducing our special guest timekeeper, our newest WWE Diva, Danielle!"

Nitro nearly threw up on the spot, he glared at Chimmel and nearly launched himself on him, this had to be a dream, didn't it?

"What the hell's going on" he screamed at Benoit, "Why is SHE involved?"

"What's the big deal, she's the newest Diva and she's getting air-time by being the timekeeper, what's the problem?" Benoit asked

"The problem Chris, is that she's been taunting me since Monday on Raw, she's an ex of mine and I don't feel comfortable with her here"

"Relax, she's just the timekeeper, it's not as if she's going to get involved"

"Fine, whatever, let's just do the match" Nitro retorted angrily, turning round and glaring at Danielle

The bell sounded and Nitro and MVP started the match.

The match was coming to a conclusion and amazingly Danielle hadn't interfered once in any way, and Nitro was quite enjoying himself, although the note still bothered him, it was Mercury and Benoit in the ring, Nitro glanced over at Danielle, as he'd been doing the entire match, she smiled sweetly and continued with what she was doing. Benoit had just delivered 3 German Suplexes on Mercury and went for the flying headbutt, it connected. He tagged in Nitro who went for the cover, a three count later he stood there, hands raised with Benoit, but only for a second. From behind MVP attacked Benoit and Melina nailed Nitro with a low blow. As planned Mercury grabbed the microphone and said

"You might have pinned me Nitro, but you haven't beaten me yet, not a one on one match, and to be honest, Melina and I are sick of the sight of you so Sunday at Wrestlemania, you and me in a loser leaves WWE match, where there has to be a winner, no DQ" With that Mercury shoved the mic in front of Nitro's mouth who was still lying in the middle of the ring

"You're on" gasped Nitro, at that point the crowd went wild and started chanting Nitro's name, again another strange, yet satisfying experience.

As Benoit helped Nitro up, Nitro looked round to check Danielle was minding her own business and realised she had gone, she was no longer at the timekeeper's desk. He began to panic again, as soon as he got backstage he apologised to Benoit and raced off to his dressing room to make sure she wasn't looking through his things or interfering in any way. When he got there he checked everything, nothing seemed to be missing, he breathed a huge sigh of relief, but only for a moment, as he sat down and reached over to pick the note up to read through again, still trying to make out what it meant, he picked it up, but instead of the note, it was a blank piece of paper. Worry ran through his head like lightning bolts, he got up and paced his locker room, someone had been in here, going through his things, was it Danielle or was it someone else? He walked out into the corridor and began pacing that. Just as he was ready to scream he noticed something much more worrying than the note, outside her dressing room, Melina and Danielle were talking and as they said goodbye Danielle leaned forward and gave Melina a kiss on the lips and said something that could have been, if Nitro had read her lips correctly

"I love you, and don't worry, we'll fix him on Sunday"

With that Nitro had had enough and began to walk towards them, but stopped as a commanding voice from behind him said

"I need to talk to you now"

Nitro turned round and confronting him was Mercury with a folded piece of paper in his hand.


	8. Nitro vs Mercury

"Did you see that, DID YOU SEE THAT" yelled Nitro, pointing to where he had just seen Melina and Danielle kiss

"Yes I did, it's really nothing to do with me" Mercury sneered "I need to talk to you about this" he said, holding up the piece of paper, "I found this in my dressing room, unsigned".

Nitro looked confused, he had assumed Mercury had broken into his locker room and taken the note, however it appeared it was a different one.

"I'm not sure what it means but it basically says we need to watch our backs this Sunday"

"I had a note too, I saw Danielle post it under my locker room door, I thought it seemed weird too" Nitro said, still very confused.

"Any more ideas as to what it could mean?"

"They're up to something, those two, I don't trust them. On Monday I heard Melina tell Edge and Orton that she didn't want to align herself with me anymore and it was her idea to split us up, then Danielle turns up out of the blue as an official Diva on the roster and now she seems to have got together with Melina? I don't know"

Mercury and Nitro looked puzzled

"We'll just have to watch ourselves on Sunday" Nitro said "We also need to talk strategy, being your last match I want it to be a good one"

"Me too" Mercury said, thinking that was rather a cheeky comment to make, he knew he could have a good match with or without Nitro's help.

Sunday evening seemed to come very, very quickly, and since the Smackdown tapings Nitro had managed to put Melina and Danielle and the note out of his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he realised it was just mind games, it had to be! He arrived nice and early for the big event, Wrestlemania 23 was here at last. The only thing bothering him now was having to pin one of his closest friends and watch him leave WWE, he still didn't know exactly why he was leaving, but he knew better than to keep asking.

Aretha Franklin was singing America the Beautiful and Nitro got ready, their match was first – opening up Wrestlemania was an honour, a dream come true for Nitro. He thought of his push, maybe next year he'd be headlining it. He quickly put the thought out of his mind, he wasn't one to get ahead of himself and didn't like to look too far ahead in the world of wrestling, a week ago he hadn't been scheduled to appear at all and now he was opening the show.

He walked out of his locker room and heard Lillian Garcia start the introductions

"Our opening contest is set for one fall and the loser must leave the WWE. Introducing first, accompanied by WWE Women's Champion, Melina, weighing 224 pounds, Joey Mercury. The old MNM music hit and out came Mercury and Melina to an excited chorus of boos. Once they were in the ring, the music died down.

"And his opponent, weighing in at 219 pounds, Johnny Nitro"

Nitro's new music blasted through the arena, as did the fans who gave Nitro a huge ovation, they were going wild for him, again as he walked down towards the ring he couldn't quite believe it. Strangely enough he enjoyed playing the face and milking the crowd. He climbed into the ring and the bell rung.

The match was going well, they exchanged blows, kicks armdrags, dropkicks. All the usual moves you would see in a match with 2 guys under 225 pounds, both Nitro and Mercury were athletic and fit so the match went down very well. They'd been told to go about 10 minutes and finish it, the time went quickly but as the 10 minute mark approached and the spot to finish arrived, something happened that wasn't in the script.


	9. An Unexpected Appearance

Nitro went for his finishing move and nailed Mercury with it to perfection and went for the cover, this was it, he was going to win at Wrestlemania, sure, he was making his friend leave WWE, but that was another story. He waited for the referee to leap down next to Mercury's shoulders, but instead music hit the arena and out from the back came Linda McMahon. He got up off Mercury who stayed lying on the canvas and looked on at Linda. He glanced round at referee Mike Khioda, who shrugged his shoulders and looked just as surprised as Nitro. Mercury was getting to his feet, he too, looked very shocked. Nitro looked at him and realised he didn't know anything about this. They had been friends for a long time and he could tell that they were both as surprised bewildered by what was going on. The crowd had fallen silent as Linda stepped into the ring. Finally her music stopped and she began to speak.

"I guess you're all wondering why I'm out here, and so you know, my husband, Vince, has no idea either. I have arranged for this match to continue with a different referee, so Mike Khioda, thank you for your time, but for this match you are now dismissed"

Khioda looked shocked and amazed, but Linda owned the company, she was boss, so obliged and stepped out of the ring.

"And now let me announce the new referee for this match…" Linda was stopped dead in her tracks as Vince McMahon appeared at the top of the ramp, microphone in hand and said,

"I don't know what you're doing Linda, but I run this company and I assigned Mike Khioda to referee this match" he then turned his attention to Khioda, who was still walking up the isle, "Turn round and get back in the ring and carry on with the match" he bellowed at Khioda, who looked even more surprised and uncomfortable with this situation.

"Beg to differ Vince" Said Linda from the ring "You may run this company, but I own part of it, which means I get a say in what goes on, Mike Khioda, if you value your job you'll get your ass to the back right now"

This was a new side of Linda that people had never seen before, the audience was silent, Nitro and Mercury looked on in utter disbelief, and even Vince looked taken aback by it. Khioda walked to the back as Vince spoke.

"Ok Linda, so you've got another referee for this match, who is it and why?"

"Well Vince, why will be explained later, it's someone I hired about a week ago, both Nitro and Mercury know this person well" she turned her attention to the audience "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the WWE's newest Diva, Danielle" and with that Danielle appeared dressed as a referee, but she had only had time to get to the top of the ramp when Vince spoke again

"Cut the music, cut the music, who the hell is this, what is she doing here and why did you hire her?"

"Vince you're so naïve sometimes, I can hire who I want, and I thought you would have guessed by now who she was" Vince looked blank "also, she knows both wrestlers well and it seems fitting for her to referee the match"

Nitro stared on, could not believe what was happening, Mercury, too seemed shocked and a little nervous about the thought of her being the referee.

Vince scrunched up his face, he knew there was nothing he could do about it, Linda had a right to hire who she wanted, but Vince couldn't help but wonder just who she was and why she was there.

Danielle climbed into the ring, Vince turned and went to the back while Linda, for some reason took a seat at ringside. Danielle called for the bell and the match started again. However it didn't last long, after a few nice moves from both wrestlers, Mercury signalled for Nitro to go for the finish, as he did so, however, Linda got up on the apron and nailed Nitro with a chair knocking him out-cold. Mercury looked completely shocked and was about to ask what was going on when Danielle nailed hm from behind with a chair, he too was knocked out-cold. Danielle positioned Nitro and Mercury so they were covering each other and counted to three, declaring the match a draw. With that, Linda and Melina both climbed into the ring and raised their arms in the air in victory standing over, and looking down at the motionless bodies of Nitro and Mercury, the crowd booing all three women, the question on everyone's mind though was what on earth was going to happen as far as the firing went.

Vince came down to the ring, to a mixed reaction for once, and as he was about to speak and ask what was going on, Linda beat him to it and made an announcement.


	10. Linda's Promo

"Hold it Vince, before you have a heart attack, you and everyone else should know what's going on, but for that to happen I need you to shut your mouth"

Vince stopped and looked at Linda, unable to believe what was going on, she was disrupting Wrestlemania, his creation, true she was the CEO of the company, but she'd always taken a back seat until now. He fixed his eyes on her, but she simply stared back.

By this point Mercury and Nitro had come too and had climbed outside the ring to await a decision, both of them very confused. They walked over to where Vince was standing, Linda then spoke again.

"You see Vince" Linda said "You've always thought of Wrestlemania as yours, but you forget that I am the CEO and I have always wanted a say in what goes on, well, now I am having a say, so you will stay there and listen to me. I guess you all want to know who Danielle is and why I hired her, well that one is simple. In a minute you'll want to know so much more and you'll also want to know why I decided to change the outcome of this match".

Vince looked on, nodding his head ever so slightly

"Well", Linda continued "I've already said why I'm here, I want a piece of the action, and what better place to drop the biggest bombshell on you, bigger than you've ever had before. Vince, Danielle is in fact my daughter"

With that Vince nearly fell over, Mercury and Nitro gasped and the crowd fell silent, they could not believe what they'd just heard. Linda continued,

"Let me take you back, do you remember 1980, six years after Stephanie was born I became pregnant again, accidentally and because neither of us believed in abortion, we agreed I'd have the baby and we'd give it up for adoption. Well Vince, there was only one reason I went along with that, you know I love being a mother, I'd have loved another daughter, but the reason I agreed is not because I don't believe in abortion, it's not because I wasn't up to it, I actually resent you for it.

Vince couldn't believe what he had just heard, "I have another daughter, you've found her, why?" He asked, not that he was angry, far from it, he was just completely shocked. This appearance had started to ruin Wrestlemania, but now it was the best Wrestlemania ,moment in history. Tears were welling up in his eyes, but before he could rush into the ring and be reunited Linda stopped him in his tracks

"Stop right there, don't move any closer, I haven't finished yet, like I say I resented you for your decision" Linda bellowed at Vince. "And let me correct you on one thing, I have another daughter, yes, but I never said you did! The reason I agreed to it, and to have no contact with her is because her father is NOT you, do you really think I'd want to watch you go all soft and father-like on a child that's not your own? That wouldn't be fair, no, so I gave her up, but I have always been in contact with her, secretly of course, why would she want to get to know you? A man who is greedy and wants everything credited to him, and him alone?"

Vince was shocked, Linda had had an affair, Danielle was not his daughter after all, now, instead of tears of joy welling up, he had tears of hurt and disappointment, yes Linda was ruining Wrestlemania, but that was just a side issue now, he wondered who the father was if it wasn't him.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Linda continued, "I give you the father of my child, Danielle"

Music blared through the building, Vince nearly fell over, Mercury and Nitro, who were still listening on both gasped and the crowd fell silent, whereas Linda, Danielle and Melina were smiling from ear to ear. The father walked down the ramp-way to the ring, a cocky grin on his face and a microphone in one hand, the crowd were still silent, no boos and no cheers, nothing, they were stunned, no one could believe what was happening. As he passed Vince, he extended his hand in friendship, but all Vince could do was stare and sneer. He wanted to beat him down to the ground, but he knew realistically he couldn't and wouldn't stand a chance. The father continued on and climbed into the ring. Vince looked round, Shane and Stephanie had appeared at the entrance of the isle, Vince wondered if they were in on this too, but he could soon tell from their faces that they were both stunned and upset. They walked down to Vince and both gave him a family hug, not believing what was going on. At ringside, all the commentators, particularly Michael Cole were shocked and were completely silent themselves too. Linda finally spoke

"Ladies and gentlemen, the father of my third child…"


	11. The Father Revealed

"Ladies and gentlemen, the father of my third child, the immortal, Hulk Hogan!"

The whole arena was still in shock, no one could boo the hulkster, no one could cheer him either. They were all too stunned and shocked to do anything. Did this latest development have anything to do with his divorce proceedings with his wife, also called Linda? How long had he known, and what did Melina have to do with this? All kinds of questions were on the WWE fans' mind. Wearing his trademark red and yellow tights, the hulkster climbed into the ring, hugged Linda, Danielle and Melina as the McMahon family looked on, obviously in pieces, they couldn't believe what was happening.

Vince looked devastated, never in his wildest nightmares did he think this would have happened, the man that had main evented and headlined more Wrestlemania's than anyone else have an affair with his wife? Was it just a one night thing or had it been longer, Vince was in pieces. He thought about what Wrestlemania meant to him, the money in the bank ladder match should be happening now, not this.

Hogan took the microphone and began to talk. "So, you all want answers, Vince, we've had a dodgy past, had our ups and downs, the fact is without Hulk Hogan, Wrestlemania wouldn't still be going on, without Hulk Hogan, the WWF, that's right Vince WWF, not this WWE crap would never have succeeded, I helped build this company, I was this company for over 10 years, and then you made me take a back seat to that loser Bret Hart, who you in-turn screwed over".

The crowd were still amazed at this turn around, was this for real or was it a work, no one really knew. Vince did though, he knew that this was the real thing, Hogan was not supposed to be here. There had been talks, yes about him appearing to wrestle The Big Show, but they had been scrapped, then perhaps to wrestle Kahli, but they had also been scrapped

Hogan continued, "You see Vince, I was supposed to wrestle here tonight, everyone wanted to see me wrestle here tonight, but no, you had other ideas, you thought Wrestlemania could survive without the appearance of the immortal one himself. Have you forgotten the success of Wrestlemania III, when I wrestled Andre The Giant in this very arena, that made this company, how about Sid Justice at Wrestlemania 8 and not to mention headlining Wrestlemania 18 against The Rock, which as you know, many regard that match as the best match in Wrestlemania history. Vince, you and this company would be nothing if it weren't for me, I am the reason this company succeeded and still succeeds, it's why you're always asking me to do one off matches and make appearances. Well, this appearance is one of a different kind, I'm going to have a say in how things are run here. Your lovely wife, Linda has agreed to share the position of CEO with me and I'm starting by firing both Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, they pinned each other, therefore they both lost!"

Nitro and Mercury looked at each other, not believing what they were hearing, sure Mercury realised he deserved to go, he'd failed a compulsory test and was willing to face the consequences, but Johnny? What had he done, absolutely nothing. The crowd were beginning to take in what was going on and slowly began to boo the hulkster, they'd done it before in the days of the nWo, but that was part of the entertainment, this was real life, and most of them had gathered this from the McMahon's faces.

"The other thing I'm saying is I want a match tonight, like I say, these fans deserve to see Hulk Hogan wrestle and kick the crap out of someone, and Linda here has said I can hand-pick who I want to face, Vince, you and I will be in a one on one match with no disqualification, no countout, anything goes match…RIGHT NOW", with that Hogan climbed through the ropes and threw the microphone at Vince's head. The microphone soared through the air and landed on the back of Vince's head, Shane ran at Hogan but a simple big boot to the face floored him in a second. Hogan looked at Stephanie, an evil smile on his face, Vince and Shane were both down, it was just the two of them, suddenly from behind Hogan felt a chair shot on his back, he turned round, not that phased and saw Nitro holding a chair. He swung it at Hogan again who ducked out of the way. The chair missed and Hogan nailed Nitro with a low blow.

By this time Stephanie was running to the back. Linda ordered Melina to go after her and told Danielle to call for the bell, obviously Danielle was going to referee this match too. The crowd were struck with shock, this was real, no pre-plan on the part of Vince, however everyone was wondering how long this had been planned between Linda and Hogan and would they ever know. Did Hogan's family know about the affair and what sort of brutality would happen during the match, this was a fight for survival, all they could do was watch on in disbelief.


End file.
